Article reviewed: CTV exclusive: Ottawa hospital faces allegations of patient abuse, neglect

Patient Abuse and neglect

Karthika Poologanathan
820-572-931
Humber College
Janet Jeffery
Nursing 217
October, 2, 2015

Abuse is a treat with cruelty or violence treatment of a person in many ways. Abuse comprises of
many different behaviors which includes physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, financial
abuse and neglect. There are many implications about the patient abuse in hospital from this article; here
are some of the implications that I will be discussing about the elderly abuse that is faced in Saint-Vincent
hospital in the long- term care in Ottawa. CTV has revealed that number of families have reported that
they have witnessed systemic and serious absence of care at Saint- Vincent hospital. In fact, within the
period of 2011-2013 there are 50 incidents that were documented by a victims daughter name Hadi. She
stated her father died without dignity after two years in the facility. Hadi mentioned the staffs left her
dad lying on the soiled bed which remained unchanged for several days, empty IV bags were never
replaced, and blister like patches on her dad skin due to inadequate washing. Hadi is disappointed about
the care given to her dad by this hospital staffs. Additionally, another incident that was reported in the
article is another patients niece witnessed that the staff have refused to bathe the patient and they have
not being feeding the patient. What is the hospital doing to take care of this issue? Are they taking any
action about these issues? The care president & CEO of the hospital said the hospital has a plan to
change staffing and upgrade technology at facility. Is this going to change hospital environment in the
future? Changing the staffs and upgrading the practice is not the solution for this problem. The authority
of the hospital have to monitor this issue carefully and must report the staffs abnormal actions among the
patients right away. Now a days no one steps forward to report about these issues and even the patients
are scared to report because they are afraid of facing complications towards the staffs due to the reporting.
Is placing elderly in the long-term care is it a safe idea? They may be mentally safe there but physically
they are not safe in the facility. People think that their mom or dad will remain safe and happy in long
term care but in reality they are facing many challenges every day in the homes. People trust the facilities
when they leave their loved ones in the homes, but in reality they are being abused and neglected in the
facility. Where is elder abuse common? Elder abuse is high risk in the long-term care facilities. As
mentioned in the article Elder abuse can also occur in institutional settings, especially long term care
facilities.

College of Nurses of Ontario mentioned that All regulatory health professionals are subject to
mandatory reporting. The Ontario government has legislated a mandatory reporting framework in its
Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (p.3). What is the reality? Some of the health professionals do
not take any steps forward to take abuse as a serious issue and report it right away. If reporting was taken
seriously in Saint-Vincent hospital Hadis father would not have died without dignity he would have died
happily. As mentioned in the article the telegraph Mrs Slann is a healthy happy woman after admitting
her to the nursing home her energy level went down and developed bruises and cuts because of the fall
and an unattended bed sore which leaded to an amputation of a leg. Her family revealed that this is all
because of the failing care system. Unfortunately, doctors had little options to send her to the palliative
care unit until she died. If Slann was given the proper care she would have not ended up amputating her
leg. As in evidenced in my own experience a PSW left one of the patient in soiled brief and said to me
she goes to the bathroom 24/7 so leave her alone when she is done for the day I will clean her. Is this
happening because of the amount of patients admitted in the hospital or is it simply neglect? The staffs
have to take others life seriously and work according to it and not work for the money that the
government is providing them. This behaviors should be reported right away and strict action should be
taken to avoid this behavior in the future.
As states in college of Ontario of nurses Assessing the clients capacity to make a treatment
decision is the responsibility of the health care practitioner proposing the treatment (p.3). In reality, the
health care professionals are not following the guidelines and prefer to make their own choices for caring
for the patients. Staffs have to learn how to respect the patients needs and patients choices and ask for
their preferences first before they begin their care. In the article , the staff refused to bathe and feed the
patient, staff left the patient unattended because she think she do not need to be cared now and can be
taken care after when the staff has the time. Staffs are not following the rules and they make their own
decisions on the patients care. This action should be reported right away because this can seriously harm
the patient if this neglect was left unattended.

As mentioned in College of Nurses of Ontario Restrains are used to protect the clients from
injury, maintain treatment and controlling disruptive behaviors (p.3). Although, restrains are used for
safety purpose in the health care setting in some facilities, now days it used as a weapon for abuse. The
staffs are responsible for making sure that the retrained patients are safe all the time and watch them for
future complications such as skin breakdown. The staffs are supposed to monitor the restrained patients
often to see if they are safe but, in some facilities the staffs do not take this seriously and watch the
patients accordingly to the restrain protocol. This carelessness leads to death and life threatening injuries.
Why dont the staffs take restrains as a serious thing and observe the patient instead of letting the patients
lose their lifes unnecessary? As mentioned in the article (National institution of health) deaths were
caused solely by physical restraint; all of them occurred in patients under nursing care who were not
continuously observed. The immediate cause of death was strangulation (11 cases), chest compression (8
cases), or dangling in the head-down position (3 cases). In fact, patients satisfaction is priority in all
facilities, but it can be easily destroyed by neglecting their needs. Therefore, staffs should be warned
about the restrain protocol and should insist them to follow it and to avoid unnecessary death.
As a nursing student, I understand the importance of call bells in the facilities. According to the
college of nurses of Ontario placing the call bell beside the patient is very important in accomplishing the
client centered care. However, in some facilities the staffs take away the call bells because they think
clients will disturb them by calling them all day. How this client is centered care? Fulfilling the clients
values, believes and needs is very important in client centered care, how can this be accomplished when
the rules are violated. In my own experience I have seen a PSW in the long- term care facility she hid the
call bell behind the bed and when I questioned her she said do not bother with this patient because she
expects everything to be done right away so, she can wait until I get the time. It is very surprising how
these patients are being abused and it is not very easily noticeable to others. Likewise, in the article of the
Saint Vincent hospital Hadi would not have lost her father if the staffs in the facility have answered his
call bell regularly and succeeded his needs such as changing the soiled linen and washing him properly.

For instance, understand how this small neglect can lead to unnecessary death. If this issues was
addressed immediately and call bell polices brought to the staffs attention I am sure many lives should
have been saved.
Finally, patients come into the health care setting to seek out treatments for their health
problems because they trust the caregivers and the environment they will be in . It is our responsibilities
as nurses to make them feel comfortable by giving the client centered care by maintaining a therapeutic
relationship. Our positive behavior and the care we give them is the first medication for them and make
them feel comfortable. Reporting any abnormal behaviors right away is the best solution to significantly
reduce the abuse in the health care settings and to provide a safe environment for the clients. And I
strongly say that leaving your loved one in the long term care facility is not a safe idea.